Following the visit of Inquisitor Jordan Korvax to the
region of Duct’s End a recommendation was filed with the Governor Puritan of
Necromunda that a “Dedicated, loyal and well-equipped battalion of the Imperial
Guard” be posted to guard a series of ancient pipelines which stretch under the
Sump Sea for unknown distances and to destinations unrecorded on any charts. The
Inquisitor himself had ventured into the pipeline with a band of eight of his
most trusted henchmen. Only three, including Korvax, emerged, upon which he
ordered the entrances sealed.
Korvax left Necromunda, rather quickly, having issued his
recommendation, whereupon it duly got filed in an unimportant section and sent
to a menial in the 8th Necromundan who recruited a selection of
ganges from Duct’s End considered the best the locality had to offer- not particularly
special by Necromundan standards. This
ragtag bunch were given weapons, fatigues and basic training in the 8th
before being posted back to Duct’s End to stand sentry. There they stayed ,
forgotten, for several years.
Eventually the militia bored of endless days stood around a
disused pipe and began to hanker after some action. They had been trained by
the famous ‘Spiders’, they were Imperial Guard, they shouldn’t be stuck in this
dead end town sitting on their backsides while their equipment rusted. Sergeant
Apone, the only officially appointed leader, decided enough was enough. They
had a sanctioned status and by the Emperor they were going to use it! From
their base in Duct’s End they began to spread out through the Underhive. Mostly
they met with sneers and thrown rubble, but in some places the insignia of the
Imperial Guard was enough to wow some of the residents and the Militia
occasionally receive requests to join their ranks.
Sergeant Apone has maintained control of the Militia with
tough discipline. He took to the handbook for Imperial Squad Leaders like duck to water and instils the ways of the
Guard to his men as best as he is able. Given his own inexperience and the
nature of the Militia this is a far cry from the battlefield organisation of
the Guard, but in the Underhive scuffles in which they normally participate
their mish-mash of drill and pure grit serve them well. He is proud to own a shiny,
new-issue Boltgun, mark of an Imperial Officer, and always carries it as his
badge of office, taking every opportunity to demonstrate its capabilities.
Corporal Hudson was appointed by Sergeant Apone to carry the
Militia’s Plasma Gun, the concession to “well equipped” made by the pen-pusher
who authorised their creation. Hudson is one of the more reliable of the
Militia and usually turns out to weapon drill but Apone thinks he might be the
type to try a hostile takeover. Giving him the Plasma Gun is an attempt to
secure his loyalty, an example to set to the other men and insurance that
should the weapon explode at least a possible threat will have been removed.
Corporal Vasquez is a loner and prone to run quickly if
threatened too closely. Sergeant Apone responded to this by giving him a
Hunting Rifle and telling him to go as far away as possible (but not out of
range!).
The youngest of the bunch is Private Spunkmeyer. He wasn’t among those originally trained and was initiated into the Militia by Sergeant Apone after the kid expressed an interest in Imperial Drill Routine. He was given a Stub Gun when he joined the Militia, a Stub Gun which previously belonged to Vasquez (Apone reasoned he’d be too far away to need it) and this has been a source of great hostility towards the young cadet. Vasquez takes every opportunity to shoot in Spunkmeyer’s direction, so long as he can claim he was aiming at the enemy.
Well, that’s the starting gang introduced. Hopefully there’ll
be some fun developments to add in over the course of the campaign. Because I
like to play for character I’m going to set some guidelines for how I’m going
to play the gang. I rolled a Settlement as a territory, and hopefully this
coupled with my Archeotech Horde should mean I can recruit a few new Juves
every now and again. So any chance I get I am adding a basic Juve to the gang,
representing some young aspirant that Apone has introduced the benefits of
Imperial discipline to… or has been press-ganged regardless. I have a stock of ‘civilian
with guns’ models which I’ll paint and bring into the game as various Juves
come and (probably quickly!) go. I’m currently using RP Vor Union Troopers to
represent most of the gang (Hudson is Steel Legion and Spunkmeyer is Scotia
Grendel), but as the gang develops my plan is to swap out the uniform troops
with more varied, disarrayed figures representing their descent into anti-IG
anarchy.
In the games themselves, as mentioned Vasquez will shoot
enemies in a way which gives him a chance of hitting Spunkmeyer whenever
possible and will always set up as far away from the action as possible. Should
Hudson ever top Apone’s Leadership he will challenge the Sergeant for control
of the Militia.
Lastly, you might notice a theme among the gang which might
give a hint of what’s in the pipes… my hope is they’ll go find out one day!
Nice work, they turned out really well. Love the way the purple sets off the other colours.
ReplyDeleteThe background is great in addition to the figures. Normally this sort of thing strays too far from the source material and feels like dodgy fanfic to me, but not here: it all works in context.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff!
Love the background of the gang. The terrain looks cool too.
ReplyDelete